Information literacy

Information Literacy
Dr. Utpal Das,
Dibrugarh University,
Dibrugarh, Assam
utpalishaan@gmail.com

United Nations
Economic and Social Council
Sustainable Development Goals 2015 – 2030
3 June 2016

17 Goals
Towards progress on sustainable
development of human society

UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals 2015 – 2030
GOAL 4.
ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND
EQUITABLE EDUCATION AND
PROMOTE LIFE-LONG LEARNING
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
Copyrighted to Dr. Utpal Das, Dibrugarh
University

Goal 4.a.
Build and upgrade education facilities
that are child, disabilities, and gender
sensitive and provide safe, non-violent
and inclusive and effective learning
environments for all.
University

UNESCO Public Library Manifesto 1949
(renovated in Paris 1994 jointly with IFLA)
“essential institutions for the promotion of
peace and well-being spirit of humanity”
“living force for education, culture and
information”
“essential agent for the fostering of peace
and spiritual welfare through the minds of
men and women”
University

“local gateway to knowledge, provides a
basic condition for lifelong learning,
independent decision- making and
cultural development of the individual
and social groups”
“collections are not built only on optical
or recent political and milliners, but also
seek to balance the traditional and the
modern in order to include all age
groups of the population involved”
University

UNESCO’s Information for All
Programme (IFAP) recognizes the
considerable effort being invested
by many international
organizations in “measuring the
information society”

The Five laws of Library Science, the
guiding principles of operating a library
System, propounded in the year 1931
by Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, the Father of
Library Science in India
University

Redefining five laws in today’s context
1. Information are for use
2. Every user his information
3. Every information its user
4. Save the time of the user
5. Information is a growing domain

1. Law one – Information, communication, libraries, media, technology, the
Internet as well as other forms of information providers are for use in
critical civic engagement and sustainable development. They are equal in
stature and none is more relevant than the other or should be ever treated
as such.
2. Law two – Every citizen is a creator of information /knowledge and has a
message. They must be empowered to access new information/knowledge
and to express themselves. MIL is for all – women and men equally - and a
nexus of human rights.
3. Law three – Information, knowledge, and messages are not always value
neutral, or always independent of biases. Any conceptualization, use and
application of MIL should make this truth transparent and understandable
to all citizens.
4. Law four – Every citizen wants to know and understand new information,
knowledge and messages as well as to communicate, even if she/he is not
aware, admits or expresses that he/she does. Her/his rights must however
never be compromised.
5. Law five – Media and information literacy is not acquired at once. It is a
lived and dynamic experience and process. It is complete when it includes
knowledge, skills and attitudes, when it covers access,
evaluation/assessment, use, production and communication of
information, media and technology content.
(UNESCO, UNITWIN Cooperation Programme on MIL and Intercultural Dialogue, UNAOC and GAPMIL)

According to Talisayon et al. (2007), libraries
are development catalysts through access,
supplying, storing and building a culture of
information and knowledge, which require
strong corporate cooperation.

“Information literacy is central for information
professionals as they create, curate and enable
the use of diverse types of information in an
ethical manner”

1. Enriching
academic
ambience of
intellectual
activities
2. Information
and knowledge
support
3. Access of
various
information
channels
electronically4. To preserve
and protect the
intellectual
assets
5. To generate
awareness on
importance of
knowledge and
information
resources
Role of
Library
University

1. To provide and augment an enriched academic
ambience of intellectual activities
Laboratories
of mind
Continuing
education
Centre of
self learning Place of
intellectual
recreation
University

2. To provide Information and knowledge support (hybrid)
to the academia
Information
and
knowledge
support
Subscribing
print & online
journals &
databases
Purchase of
right books to
the right
users
Subscribing
citation tools
for research
support
University

3. To Support access of various information
channels electronically
Online access to subscribed journals, databases
and other resources under NMEICT and others
Providing access to open access resources and
agencies under NMEICT and others
Electronic equipments, search tools, indexing &
abstracting tools, software / hardware, internet,
networking (LAN), etc
University

Digital Initiative under NMEICT
SWAYAM, NAD, NPTEL, CEC, NDLI, Vidyamitra,
e-Shodh Sindhu, Vidwan, e-Yantra, FOSSEE,
Virtual Lab, e-Kalpa, Campus Connectivity,
NPAT, and many more.
University

4. To preserve and protect the intellectual assets
of the Academic Institute and the locality, both
physically and digitally
Planning and formulation of Rules and
Guidelines
Physical Preservation
Electronic & Digital Preservation /
Institutional Repository
University

5. To generate awareness on importance of knowledge
resources through Information Literacy Programme (ILP)
InformationLiteracyforAll
SkillIndia
DigitalIndia
InformationforAll
EducationforAll
University

Information
Information:
In library and information science information is a core
concept, yet it is neither simple nor unambiguous.
In the context of information literacy , ‘information’ refers
to (primarily textual) information sources published in
print or digital form.
However, it is not meaningful to restrict information to
text only – information can be almost anything that
carries informative potential.

Buckland (1991) in his classic conceptual analysis of
‘information’, makes a distinction between information
as process (the activity of informing or being informed),
information as knowledge (that which is imparted
through the process), and information as thing (physical
entity).
This means that information has several dimensions: it is
related to and embedded in specific activities, it is
something that refers to content, and it has a material
form and existence. This concept serves information
literacy purposes well.

Literacy
Till few decades ago, the meaning of literacy was
regarded as the skill of reading and writing, which has
now expanded to a web of abilities and competences.

The web of abilities (in terms of literacy) is not simply to
read and write, it is to capacitate people to be able to
understand, interpret and assess texts, to evaluate
statements, and enhancing their competencies to be
able to take a standpoint when faced with flows of
contradictory messages via various media and different
types of sources; thus literacy exhibits its empowering
nature.

Literacy does not only transform individuals but it
also conditions individuals’ power to transform
society.
Literacy therefore extends from a mechanical skill
to the ability to think critically and challenge
dominant ideologies.

Defining Information Literacy
Paul G. Zurkowski coined the term "Information
Literacy" in 1974 when he was president of the
Information Industry Association. In a report to the
National Commission on Libraries and Information
Science ("The Information Service Environment
Priorities Relationships and Priorities. Related Paper
No. 5")
(Bawden 2001, 230; Bruce, C. S. 1997, 5; Kapitzke
2003b, 55).

Information literacy is often defined as the ability to
search for, select, critically evaluate and use information
for solving problems in various contexts, such as
independent project work in schools.
Information literacy emphasises on seeking and
selecting information sources in various programmes of
information literacy instruction as indicative of the long
tradition of library use education primarily focussed on
sources, search techniques and the evaluation of
information (cf. Bawden 2001; Sundin 2008).

The term information literacy has been mainly used
in the context of library practice such as seeking and
finding information sources, using different search
techniques, information on various application of
ICT, etc.
During the last decade it has attracted increased
attention within learning as well as in library and
information science and has been used to describe
practices in schools and undergraduate education.

As derived from the Alexandria Proclamation of
2005, adopted by UNESCO’s Information for All
Programme (IFAP), Information Literacy is the
capacity of people to:
• Recognise their information needs;
• Locate and evaluate the quality of information;
• Store and retrieve information;
• Make effective and ethical use of information,
and
• Apply information to create and communicate
knowledge.

Information literacy has also been described as a way of
learning (Bruce 2008).
This interpretation relates information literacy to the
concept of lifelong learning (Bruce 2003). Other ideas
about information literacy include, for instance, Lloyd’s
(2005) understanding of information literacy as
information management and handling skills

The rapid development of ICTs and new media during the
last decades has further increased the need for expanding
the definitions of literacy.
The new skills requirements related to the emergence of
new media and technologies have been given names and
labels, such as:
information technology literacy,
digital literacy, and
media literacy

Bawden (2001) enumerates six extensively used
terms related to information literacy which are often
used synonymously with each other:
• computer literacy: synonyms—IT literacy,
information technology literacy,and
electronic literacy;
• electronic information literacy;
• library literacy;
• media literacy;
• network literacy: synonyms—Internet
literacy, hyper-literacy;
• digital literacy (with its synonym—digital
information literacy).

The term information literacy is closely related to
these other terms, signifying competences that are
particularly important in contemporary society and
linked to the ongoing development of ICTs and digital
media.

LITERACIES BEYOND INFORMATION LITERACY
We cannot complain that there are not enough types of
literacy. Snavely and Cooper (1997) provided 34 literacy
terms. Their examples include:
agricultural literacy;
cinematic literacy;
dance literacy;
geographic literacy;
legal literacy;
workplace literacy.

Needs of Information Literacy Programme
i. Change in contemporary learning system:
student to learner: learner-centered education that
focuses on skills and practices
that enable lifelong learning and
independent problem-solving
teaching to learning management: teaching to the
design and management of learning experiences
University

Faculty centric to learner centric:
Participatory learning module where students
answer each other’s questions, using instructor as
an information resource. Students talk without
constant instructor monitoring; instructor provides
feedback/correction when questions arise; rather
than Instructor talks, students listen Students work
in pairs, in groups, or alone depending on the
purpose of the activity but not like traditionally
students work alone
Synchronous to asynchronous:
New technology is taking over the traditional
classroom; e-learning is a integral part now which
may be only online (i.e. Synchronous) and online
and offline both (i.e. asynchronous)
University

ii. Technology Driven learning System:
services to anyone, anytime, anyplace
Plug and Play
Plunge in and learn through participation and
experimentation
teachers should act more like a consultant or a coach
to motivate, inspire, and manage an active learning
process
E-Learning: Moocs (swayam & other online courses)
University

iii. Emerging Research Area and research tools
inter disciplinary, multi disciplinary, cross
disciplinary and extra disciplinary research
 IR tools, Indexing and abstracting tools, databases
University

iv. Paradigm shift in Research Ethics due to exponential
growth and availability of digital contents
Fabrication
Falsification
Plagiarism

v. Focus on Library & types of ILP:
tremendous growth of the e-information
resources in the form of CD-ROM Databases,
Online Journals, audio and visual materials, e-books,
institutional repositories, etc.
i. E-Resource Orientation Programs
ii. To enhance visibility of subscribed
electronic resources
iii. To enhance visibility of public
domain electronic resources
University

iv. Demonstration of various search techniques
in OPAC, Publisher’s platforms, Citation tools
(Scopus, ISI, WoS: h-index, citation index, etc)
v. Orientation to intellectual property right,
copyright, creative commons, etc
vi. Orientation and demonstration on issues
of plagiarism /similarity check /introduction to
anti-Plagiarism software, etc
University

IL Contexts
1
SOCIETY
2
WORK
3
WELL-BEING
4
EDUCATION
This illustration represents a challenge both for policy makers, and for
the development of indicators of information literacy

IL for national development:
The implications of IL for economic and social
development have been recognised by policy makers at
both international and national levels. The Alexandria
Proclamation makes it evident that IL needs to be
considered not only in relation to education, but also in
the broader context of work, civil society, and health
and well being (Garner 2006).

1. IL in the context of Civic Society :
Information literacy is essential for the operation of a civic
society in which all people may participate.
There may be two types of people’s participation, active
participation (self-directed) and passive participation. In Europe,
active information seeking is identified as an essential
component of democratic participation.
active participation is an essential component
of political activity Ogris and Westphal (2006,
12)
creating government as enabling rather than
directive, thus allowing spaces where people
can flourish (Carneiro (2005)

informed society people act creatively and take
initiatives to make new meanings and new ways of
governance
create a necessary tensions that often drive central
government, and the forces that enable innovation
and creativity.
while both business and governments want an
innovative workforce to provide economic
advantage, they insist that this creativity be
disciplined and focused on economic benefits (Field
(2001)
Not only can autonomous learners provide economic
benefits, they can also challenge the power of
corporations and government to control their lives*

*At the most extreme level, terrorists and security forces
are engaged in a complex struggle to control and manage
information, and this struggle creates risks both for the
well-being of citizens and for democratic values of liberty
and freedom of speech.
Our conclusion is that the goal of information literacy for all
involves complexity and challenges for policy makers.
Hence establishing indicators of IL requires careful
planning, clarification of goals, and cooperation among
nations.

2. IL in the context of health and well being:
Information literacy is a crucial tool in developing health
and well being for all people.
There are two distinct areas where the use of information
in health provision is of importance-

IL for health and
well being
Right of
individuals for IL
about health and
well-being
IL among health
professionals

3. IL in the context of education and knowledge
i. IL for Individual Achievement:
Information literacy (IL) is essential for individuals to
achieve personal, social, occupational and
educational goals (Alexandria Proclamation of 2005)
ii. IL for knowledge society:
IL is necessary for people to be effective as lifelong
learners and to contribute in knowledge societies.
This is why IL was endorsed by UNESCO’s
Information for All Programme (IFAP) as a basic
human right.

iii. IL standards in the education sector:
IL Standards have been created as means to guide
information literacy work in the education sector and
have been shown to have utility in this context.
Early formulations of IL standards were developed in the
late eighties for use in school library systems in the
United States. The first model was created by the
American Association of School Libraries, followed in the
next years by several standards at state level, including
Colorado California, and Washington.

Other widely cited initiatives include Big6, Pathways to
Knowledge, and Follett (Byerly and Brodie, 1999). An
analysis of each country’s set of skills for elementary
school pupils reveals substantial similarities as
confirmed by the analysis of Byerly and Brodie (1999).
In the higher education sector the ALA, Association of
College and Research Libraries (ACRL) drafted IL
standards which informed similar action in other nations
including Australia, the United Kingdom and Mexico, all
of which adopted similar norms for university level
students, as confirmed by the Big Blue (2001) project.

4. IL in the context of work and economic activity:
IL is central to both the design of a learning organisation
and to the development of a competitive advantage for
firms and for nations within the global knowledge
economy.
But, knowledge management of the firms and
governments with results of limited competitiveness, are
yet to be connected with IL (Cheuk, 2002)

Hence, to understand the importance of information
literacy to economic growth it is necessary to distinguish
between the routine distribution of information, and the
use of information to create knowledge.
• The distribution of information to people depends upon
infrastructure, and once that is in place, information can
often be distributed at marginal additional cost.
• However, when information is used to innovate and
create new products or processes that are privately
owned and protected by patents, then new knowledge
can be costly to replicate by competitors.
• Furthermore information can be used as a commodity by
rich nations to trade with poorer nations.

There is direct relation between literacy rates
and improving socio-economic conditions,
whereas poor literacy and thinking
incapacities raise socio-economic costs.

Knowledge-based economy
‘Knowledge-economic development’ is high output of
technically advanced service sector and industries through
knowledge creation.
Binde & Matsuura explain life-long learning increases
economic and occupational returns through human
development benefits.
However, Charles Leadbeater determines knowledge-driven
economy as where knowledge benefits all sectors and not just
high-tech industries.
Thompson says IL skills are crucial for small and large
businesses’ positive results.

Elements of Information Literacy
Campbell (2004) argued that there are five IL elements
which are consistent for use in higher education and are
applicable across all domains of human development:
a. Recognise information needs
b. Locate and evaluate the quality of information
c. Store and Retrieve information
d. Make effective and ethical use of information, and
e. Apply information to create and communicate
knowledge

a. Recognise Information needs
The awareness that information is required to solve
problems in the workplace, to understand civic needs,
and to provide for the health and well being of family
and community is the first component of IL.
This awareness of need is not a static capacity but one
that needs to be applied to each and every situation as
it arises.
Of necessity, people choose to accept some
information, recognized claims need to be questioned
and tested by seeking additional information or
confirming the accuracy of that information supplied.

b. Locate and evaluate the quality of information
The skills required to locate information depend on the
context in which a person is applying their IL skills. In the
workplace, the information may be located in:
manuals,
in published codes of practice, or
in dedicated databases.
In these circumstances, there is usually some assurance
of the quality of the information source.

However, increasingly people seek information using
internet search engines where there is often no filter on
the quality of the information located.
This is of particular concern that an internet site may
look credible to the unskilled eye, but when the
information is evaluated it can be established to lack
accuracy and credibility.
Education and training are needed to help people
acquire the skills to not just locate, but also to evaluate
information sources, and therefore IL indicators must
include this skill.

c. Store and retrieve information
People have always appreciated the importance of storage of
information and its retrieval for later use.
Indigenous people often have sacred places where such
information (IK) is stored and accessed to be transmitted to
each generation.
Firms maintain their accounts, stock, orders and, with the
digital age, their customer profiles.
Intellectual People maintain not only their own libraries, but
also in the digital age store knowledge as archive that they
have created including phone directories and music albums.
The capacity to store and retrieve information is therefore an
indicator of IL.

e. Communicate knowledge
The purpose of IL is to enable people to create and use
new knowledge and hence this component represents
the product of IL practice. This component may be used
for communicating in problem solving and augment
literacy.

Information Literacy Models
IL Models are looked from the perspective of teacher’s/
educator’s point of view who generally impart IL.
IL Models are standard frameworks to develop an information
literacy programme based on different levels of
information seeking and writing and evaluating behaviour
of the users and to impart skills in them.
These models assure learning as an active and creative
process that enhances critical thinking.
These models have also been used for designing and
evaluating information literacy curricula.

Standards and Indicators for IL
According to ALA (1998) “Information Literacy Standards are
conceptual framework and broad guidelines for describing
the information-literate student”.
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), 2000
stats that standards of information literacy for higher
education are guidelines to help in developing an
information literacy curriculum for an educational
institution

European Association for Viewers’ Interests (EAVI) Report
(2009)
“…an indicator is an instrument which provides information
about the status and progress of a specific situation,
process or condition. They enable simple, straightforward
and accessible knowledge regarding specific phenomenon.
They may be simple or complex, depending on whether
they are a set of specific and precise data or the result of a
number of simple indicators gathered together”

Taken together, standards and indicators (also called
performance indicators) describe the content
and processes related to information that students must
master to be considered as information literate (in terms
of their developmental, cultural, and learning needs)

ALA’s “Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning”
constitutes standards in three categories where nine
standards and twenty-nine indicators are described.
On the other hand Association of College and Research
Libraries (ACRL), 2000 (followed by Australian and New
Zealand) constituted five standards and twenty-two
performance indicators and fifty-five outcomes.
Dimension related indicators

Learning Outcomes of Information Literacy
1. Defining and articulating information needs,
2. Locating and accessing information,
3. Organising information,
4. Making ethical use of information, Maximizing the
MIL Ecology through “Minimalism”
5. Communicating information, and
6. Using ICT skills for information processing.

Dependency of Indicators
There are 3 kinds of approaches for Indicators’ dependency:
1. Supply:
Indicators reflect the degree to which government or
other official national agencies supply information through
a variety of channels to the public. It is important to
examine use of information in relation to supply as people
may have the skills to access information, but will not be
able to obtain the information they need unless it is
supplied or made available to them.

2. Reception:
This reflect the degree to which people actually receive
the information that is supplied. They may be divided
into two groups:
Firstly, the degree to which the national ‘supply’ actually
reaches people who may be prevented from using the
information by barriers such as social stigma or
language.
Secondly, what information people look at or whether they
adopt the supplied information in their lives.

3. Skills:
It is considered that a prime mandate of UNESCO is to
examine the degree to which people acquire the skills
necessary to use ICTs through the formal or non-formal
education systems. Lack of skills can be one reason why
information that is ‘available’ is not ‘used’.

Information Literacy, Equality and Constrains
Language: Language is also a key factor in access to
information. Those who speak English have access to a
wider pool of information in most fields of knowledge
due to the dominance of English, especially in electronic
information data bases (UNESCO 2005)
Cultural constraints: Information and the skills to use it are
needed in every society, but the ways that a citizen may
identify and express information needs are affected by
family patterns, language, and religion, among other
social factors

Political constraints: Political constraints can also influence
the development of an information literate society even
if we know that access to and the effective use of
information is related to economic growth.
Economic constraints: Economic constraints can impact on
IL in all countries including developed nations. For
instance, host library and the owners of the databases
determine whether articles can be accessed online. If
not purchased user receives a message ‘you do not have
rights to view the article’ which means in practice that
normally the information in that document is not
accessed.

References
• American Library Association. (2005) Information Literacy Standards. at
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm
• Balanskat, A; Blamire, R.; and Kefala, S. (2006) The ICT Impact Report: A review
of studies of ICT impact on schools in Europe. Brussels, European Community.
Located, October 2007, at http:// ec.europa.eu /education/ doc/ reports/ doc/
ictimpact.pdf
• Big Blue (2001) The Big Blue: information skills for students. Located at http: //
www.library.mmu. ac.uk/bigblue
• Bruce, C. (1997). The relational approach: a new model for information literacy.
The New Review of Information and Library Research, 3, 1–22.
• Standards and Practice. 2nd ed. Adelaide: ANZIIL.
• Byerly G. and Brodie, C. S. “Information Literacy Skills Models: Defi ning the
Choices. In Stripling,
• Campbell, S (2004) Defining Information Literacy in the 21st Century. World
Library and
• Information Congress: 70th IFLA General Conference and Council, 22-27 August
• Catts, R. (2005a) Information Literacies and Lifelong Learning: Keynote Address.
Motesplats Infor Framtiden. (Swedish Library Association Annual Conference)

• Cats, R. (2005b) Information Skills Survey, Technical Manual, Canberra, CAUL.
• Catts, R (2007) Evaluating Information Literacy Initiatives in Higher Education,
in Nevgi, A. (ed.)
• Clark, C., and Catts, R. (2007 Information Skills Survey: its application to a
medical course. EBLIP 2, (3) 3 – 26.
• DHS (2007) Demographic and Health Surveys. Located at
http://www.measuredhs.com/ aboutsurveys/dhs/questionnaires.cfm#2
• Emmett A. and Emde, J. (2007) Assessing information literacy skills using the
ACRL standards as a guide. Reference Services Review 35 (2) 210 – 229.
Located October 2007 at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?Filename=html/Output
/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/2400350202.pdf
• Learning Alexandria, Washington DC IFLA, located October 2007, at
http://www.ifl a.org/III/wsis/
• TOWARDS INFORMATION LITERACY INDICATORS High-Level-Colloquium.pdf
• Literacy Meeting of Experts, Prague, The Czech Republic. September 2003,
located October 2007 at http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/
papers /grant-fullpaper.pdf

• Integration and Assessment in Higher Education Journal of Systemics,
Cybernetics and Informatics 5 (4) 50 – 55
• Kuhlthau, C. Information Skills for an Information Society: A review of the
research. Syracuse, NY
• Lau, Jesus. (2006) The Impact of Information Competencies on Socio-Economic
Development in the Southern Hemisphere Economies. In Martin, A. and
Madigan, D. Digital Literacies for Learning. London: Facet.
• Lau, J. (2007) Information Literacy resource Directory, IFLA,
http://www.infolitglobal.info
• Millenium Development Goals (MDGs, 2003) http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mi/
pdf/ mdglist.pdf
• OECD (2005) Learning a Living. Located November, 2007 at http://www.oecd.
org/ dataoecd/44/7/34867438.pdf
• OECD (2007) Measuring the Progress of World Societies: The Istanbul
Declaration. Accessed athttp://www.oecd.org/site/0,3407,en_ 21571361_
31938349 _1_1_1_1_1,00.html

• UIS (2007) A Statistical Framework for Information Literacy. Working Group on
Measurement, April 3.
• UNESCO (2005). Toward Knowledge Societies: UNESCO World Report. Paris,
UNESCO.
• UNESCO (2005). Measuring Linguistic Diversity on the Internet. Paris, UNESCO
• UNESCO (2007). Information for All Programme, located October 2007 at
http://portal.unesco.org/ ci/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=21293&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
• WHO (2006) Reproductive Health Indicators: Guidelines for their generation,
interpretation and analysis for global monitoring. Geneva, Switzerland, World
Health Organization. Located at http://
www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/rh_indicators/guidelines.pdf

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